Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) + The South Travel Guide

Tropical Ho Chi Minh City (still called Saigon by most residents) is arguably Asia’s most dynamic boomtown—the epitome of the Wild, Wild East. Vietnam’s largest city (population 8 million) is also the engine of its economy and in every respect the brasher younger sibling to the buttoned-down capital, Hanoi. Still, the gracious cityscape that the French once knew—traditional Chinese shop houses, Art Deco cafés—endures. But as incomes rise, a new generation is making its mark; high-end boutiques and exclusive candlelit boîtes now cater to status-hungry Vietnamese as well as tourists and expats. Increasingly cosmopolitan, the city’s burgeoning fashion-and-design, dining, and nightlife scenes await those who can keep up with the Saigonese.